Padres' 6-9 pitching prospect could be next big thing

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The Padres’ pitching prospect stands 6 feet 9, weighs 280 pounds and is making a conspicuous mess of his stated desire to “stay in the corner and not be seen” during spring training.

The kid sticks out like a pink cactus and is almost as hard to hit as he is hard to miss. Lollis is a 20-year old right-hander with an unusually mature repertoire and a burgeoning buzz. He has four serviceable-to-splendid pitches, including a curve ball clearly distinct from his slider, with low-90s velocity that seems faster because of his elevated release angle and elongated stride.

He is, it would seem, a tall tale that is largely true.

“If you would have said he was 25 years old, I would have believed it,” Padres pitching coach Darren Balsley said. “From what I’ve seen, he’s very mature baseballwise. The way he’s been throwing — his delivery and his overall stuff — is very impressive. He also seems to have a very high baseball IQ.”

For most of the Padres’ major league staff, Lollis has arrived as a revelation. He is in camp on a nonroster basis, earning his invitation only last month at the close of the Padres’ winter development program.

Like Jake Peavy, Lollis is a former 15th-round draft choice who was subsequently switched to the phenom track. He figures to start the 2011 season at Single-A Lake Elsinore, but his rise could be rapid.

“I heard the name in the middle of last year,” Padres manager Bud Black said. “I put my eyes on him in that winter development program in January and I saw the delivery and I saw the arm strength. My eyes sort of lit up a little bit ...

“Three-four months ago, when we were talking about big-league camp, his name wasn’t on the board. Now his name is on the board and we’re going to give him some innings.”

Lollis worked one scoreless inning during Saturday’s intrasquad game and can expect to make multiple appearances during the Cactus League season. Until the Padres’ projected starters develop the endurance to pitch five or six innings, younger pitchers will be logging most of the middle innings of exhibition games. As the need for extra arms abates, many of those younger pitchers will be relocated to the minor league clubhouse.

Matt Lollis has learned to be patient about his progress. After signing a letter of intent to pitch at San Diego State prior to his senior season at Riverside’s Patriot High School, Lollis blew that chance through his own impulsive bravado.

“The first start of my senior year, I strained some muscles in my shoulder,” he said. “I was up to about 85 pitches and I was being hard-headed with my coach. I told him, ‘We haven’t won a game to start the season off since I’ve been here. We’re getting off on the right foot this year. You’re not taking me out.’

“I got off the bus and I was real sore and I came out the next day and I couldn’t throw a ball 35 feet. It was my own fault for being young and dumb. It really taught me a lot about listening to pitching coaches and not trying to do too much.”

The strain was sufficiently serious that Lollis temporarily abandoned pitching and spent the bulk of that season at first base. This effectively eliminated him from draft consideration that spring and caused him to reconsider his commitment to SDSU.

Elite high school ballplayers commonly sign collegiate letters of intent as insurance against an unfavorable draft position or as negotiating leverage. Honoring that pledge, however, entails a three-year commitment before a player is eligible for another draft.

The alternative is to enroll in junior college, and go back into the draft pool the following year. That was the path Matt Lollis pursued, pitching one season at Riverside Community College as a bridge to the 2009 draft.

“Playing for Tony (Gwynn) would have been awesome,” Lollis said of San Diego State. “I would have loved to go there. I loved the school, but it was better for me to go to a junior college and try to rehab, not knowing if I’d be able to throw that whole year and taking a spot from somebody else who might have a chance.”

Balsley remembers forming a favorable first impression of Lollis last spring during a visit to the Padres’ minor league fields. Later, as Lollis climbed from Eugene to Fort Wayne, and then dominated the Midwest League with a 5-2 record and a 1.89 ERA over nine starts, his stature within the organization came to match his size.

“I’ll stay off the bandwagon,” Padres General Manager Jed Hoyer said. “It’s too early. (But) there’s so much to like about him. He’s 6-9. He’s pretty athletic. He’s got a great arm. And he’s a good kid.

“I like the fact that he’s really opened everyone’s eyes. I like it when you go into the coaches’ room and they’re talking about a young guy. I know that they’ll look at every start in the game reports and follow him. I like the enthusiasm. I just think it’s too early to ring the bell.”

Balsley’s timetable tells him Lollis could reach the Padres by 2013. Though he declined to classify Lollis as a “fast-track” prospect, Balsley said there was “no reason whatsoever” that would prevent him from pitching in the big leagues.

“The big improvement he needs to make is pitching down in the strike zone more often,” Balsley said. “CY (the 6-foot-10 Chris Young) didn’t become an All-Star pitcher until he learned to pitch down first and then up when he wanted to. Lollis might be the same way. CY used to be a majority of a high-ball pitcher with deception and he got a lot of popups. When he was able to get the ball down early in the count, then he was able to finish guys off.”

If Matt Lollis can make that refinement, the Next Big Thing could come soon.